Hack for Take Back Day

February 25, 2018 @ 10:00 am - 4:30 pm

The “Pre-hack” is a full-day of ideation on solutions that will be developed during the Hack for Take Back Day on March 11. Project managers, social media gurus, communicators, and designers, welcome! Chosen solutions will be developed by coders at the Hack for Take Back Day.

According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans suffer from drug abuse. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

The National Prescription Drugs Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, in collaboration with Civic Hall and Progressive HackNight, is holding a series of events to spark a discussion and collaborations among coders, designers, and creatives on how to create technologies that will help address three key issues facing Take Back Day efforts:

Lowering the Barrier: Making it easier for people to drop off their unused medicines, by helping them find collection sites and safer approaches to disposing of prescription drugs.

Outreach: Creating effective campaigns for people to learn more about Take Back Day and building tech to help notify and remind them as Take Back Day approaches.

Inform: Effectively educating the public about the opioid crisis and how best to help those victimized by it.

The solutions encompass media, tech, design, and data. We are looking for folks who want to help reduce the number of opioid deaths in the country through technology and media – a part of Attorney General Schneiderman’s multi-pronged approach to tackling the opioid crisis.

Three upcoming events will bring New Yorkers together to discuss and work on these issues–starting with a Pre-Hack Day on February 25, a HackNight on February 27, and a Full-on Hack on March 11.

Take Back Day Pre-Hack – February 25

A day of brainstorming and collaboration on projects that would help to make information about safe prescription drug disposal more accessible, build awareness of the issue and the need to be a part of the solution, and encourage participation in Take Back Day. Project Managers, Creatives, and Designers, welcome! A selection of projects coming out of the day will continue to being developed by coders on the Take Back Day Hack on March 11.

Take Back Day HackNight – February 27

A Progressive HackNight discussion on opioid abuse. We will cover the issues surrounding the opioid crisis, what’s been done to address the crisis in New York State under Attorney General Schneiderman’s leadership, and how can we as technologists support the recovery of those affected and assist in alleviating the crisis. We will also present some of the solutions created during the Pre-Hack.

Take Back Day Hack – March 11

A full day of hacking dedicated to implementing and developing the technologies discussed in the last two events. The goal is to work on projects that will achieve the three key things that we’re aiming for to moveTake Back Day efforts forward: Lowering The Barrier, Outreach, Inform.